MICROELECTRONIC SYSTEMS NEWS
FILENUMBER: 9312
BEGIN_KEYWORDS
WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry
END_KEYWORDS
DATE: september 1996
TITLE: WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry
WIZnet Electronic Commerce Product Registry
WWW: WIZnet
A. Profile And History
Worldwide Internet Solutions Network, Inc. (WIZnet) was formed to
be a leader in enabling practical Electronic Commerce between
commercial buyers and sellers. WIZnet was formally organized in
April of 1995, following three years of research and development
by its founder, Safwat Fahmy. That research---has resulted in:
* A new generation of Search and Retrieval software, for accessing
detailed product information in textual and graphical form;
* The largest multi-vendor library of on-line global industrial
product catalogs;
* Catalog-linked and secure electronic commerce mail connections
between commercial buyers and sellers; and
* Full service electronic commerce access to the Internet for other
business purposes.
B. EC-ProductRegister
WIZnet launched its Electronic Commerce Product Register (EC-
ProductRegister) subscription service in the summer of 1996. Of-
fered to engineering, purchasing, and global trade professionals,
the EC-ProductRegister is the most effective multi-vendor sourc-
ing tool on the market. A subscription provides access to
thousands of industrial product catalogs, which are indexed using
Adaptive Pattern Recognition (APRP) and neural network technolo-
gy.
This approach _Learns_ the contents of every page and creates a
free-form index that overcomes the limitations of keyword index-
ing techniques.
EC-ProductRegister subscribers receive QuickSearch, a high-speed
search and retrieval system. Using QuickSearch, sourcing profes-
sionals can locate every prospective supplier's catalog pages
that contain products of interest---With A Single Query---From
Any Workstation Worldwide. They can then view those pages on
their screen, print them, and initiate a fully secure Electronic
Commerce Mail (EC-Mail) dialog with the supplier of each product
At The Press Of A Button.
From the perspective of supplier firms, the EC-ProductRegister
serves as a virtual sales office. EC-Mail inquiries from pros-
pective buyers are delivered to their E-Mail box 24 hours a day.
C. Connectivity And Support
WIZnet EC-ProductRegister subscribers can access the virtual ca-
talog library in several ways. For Internet users, QuickSearch
automatically is enabled using communications protocol (TCP/IP)
of their existing Internet Service Provider. Alternatively,
WIZnet provides automated communications software which dials a
Too-Free Number to establish a direct TCP/IP connection with
WIZnet's powerful Servers based in Delray Beach, Florida.
Large corporate customers are supported via Direct ISDN, T1, or
even faster and Broader-Band communications connections. WIZnet
is also adding the capability of dialing Local Access Numbers in
over 250 locations across North America and in 180 other coun-
tries, to provide its subscribers with full service Electronic
Commerce access to all business resources of The Global Internet.
Because of its total dedication to business users of the Inter-
net, WIZnet is providing 24-hour Hotline Support to its sub-
scribers. This level of support is expected by business users of
most computer technology, but sets another New Standard in the
Internet world.
D. What Problems Or Need Are We Solving For Our Customers?
Traditional product data sources are based on paper product Cata-
logs from individual suppliers, and paper business-to-business
registers, (such as The Thomas Register, Blue Book, Gale's Direc-
tory, etc.). Paper product catalogs of individual suppliers re-
quire extensive manual searching and must be kept up-to-date by
sourcing staff. Paper business-to-business Registers provide
contact information for possible sources, but they are manually
indexed and require manual searching. More expensive CD-ROM pro-
duct data sources allow electronic searching, But have drawbacks
of keyword indexing, single-source information, and manual update
filing.
Some sourcing professionals are experimenting with the World Wide
Web (WEB) portion of the Internet. A number of companies are
offering WEB search tools, and the first generation of search
tools is growing quickly. But the WEB will disappoint anyone ex-
pecting the depth and breadth of information provided in tradi-
tional catalogs, for product sourcing purposes, the WEB is not
sufficiently comprehensive. Search engines often fail to find
_Links_ to needed information, and sometimes provide links to
out-of-date references.
WIZnet's new technology addresses this need, and by incorporating
it into its unique system it enables practical Electronic Com-
merce (EC) between commercial buyers and sellers on the Internet.
This system offers instant access to millions of product catalog
pages from thousands of vendors.
E. Summary
To many, the Internet is synonymous with the World Wide Web. In
fact, the WEB is only one subset of the Internet. WIZnet has
taken advantage of the open infrastructure of the Internet to
provide an improved product sourcing approach that is far superi-
or to any implementation that relies on the architecture of the
WEB subsystem.
By consolidating images of millions of actual catalog pages in a
single location, by providing a powerful search tool that
presents product information in a highly familiar format, and by
linking buyers and sellers together with a secure Electronic Com-
merce is highly superior to WEB-based product sourcing solutions.
Available to Internet users or via a direct connection, the
WIZnet solution has drawn a quick following among engineering,
purchasing and global trading professional.
We believe that our services merit your attention and review.
WIZnet's services can be the cornerstone in establishing true
Electronic Commerce in your organization and your customers.
WIZnet is a global force in electronic commerce, with lasting
economical value to both buyers and sellers.
Please contact me to further discuss this opportunity for your
organization and your customers. I look forward to hearing from
you!
Safwat F. Fahmy
Director
safwat@wiznet.net
dbouldin@utk.edu